corbin 621 Posted November 5, 2016 Report Share Posted November 5, 2016 Ran across some Russian 223 ammo at a local gun show. Steel case. The guy had 5 or 6 boxes of 1000 each. Decent price, but...... He said the primers were harder (or maybe he said thicker) than regular ammo and that your average 223 rifle (like an AR) probably wouldn't ignite it without modifying it with a heavier hammer spring. I'm looking at them for my Saiga 233, not an AR. I read somewhere that some folks had increased the depth of their firing pin strikes by removing a very slight amount of material from the back of the AK's bolt. A few thousands, I'm thinking. Would this be safe? Would a stronger hammer spring be better to try? I would think so, but wanted people's opinions that may have tried it. To my way of thinking (that doesn't always work), having a heavier hammer spring and perhaps a SLIGHTLY longer firing pin would solve the problem, but then, if regular primered ammo was fired through the rifle, you may run the risk of primer penetration. Thoughts? Thanks guys Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Heartbreaker 1,085 Posted November 5, 2016 Report Share Posted November 5, 2016 Russian weapons usually have stronger hammer springs to start with. My advice is to try running the ammo first and see if you have issues with light strikes. Don't try to fix something if you don't know if it's even broken! 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BigChongus 765 Posted November 5, 2016 Report Share Posted November 5, 2016 I've seen only one instance in person of hard primers being an issue with Russian ammo and it was in a friend's AR *after* he put a 3.5lb CMC trigger in it. You're Saiga should run that like a champ. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
csspecs 1,987 Posted November 5, 2016 Report Share Posted November 5, 2016 This is likely the Golden Tiger hard primer stuff.. We are running it in AR rifles with wolff extra power hammer springs, and enhanced 5.45x39 firing pins. Basically the firing pin needs to travel a little further, and a little faster to make them go off. Between myself and my brother we have 22,000 rounds of the stuff.. SGammo is dumping it at $160 a case I have heard of people taking out the spring that holds the firing pin back in the Saiga .223.. Just be sure it gets put back or you could have the gun slam fire on commercial ammo. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
patriot 7,197 Posted November 5, 2016 Report Share Posted November 5, 2016 Don't worry about it until you have a problem. If it an't broke, don't "fix" it. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
corbin 621 Posted November 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2016 I bet the SGAmmo ammo is the same stuff. I see that it's back-ordered there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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